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The Pittsburgh Steelers are in their worst stretch in a while and they can't be sure why

Updated on November 6, 2016 at 9:06 PMPosted on November 6, 2016 at 9:04 PM

Steelers Ravens Ben Roethlisberger

The Pittsburgh Steelers, now in their worst losing streak of the past few years, huddle around quarterback Ben Roethlisberger during the second half of their 21-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2016, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)
(Nick Wass)

In this season that has half of their games remaining the Steelers have been beaten by short passes and poor tackling, then deep passes on bad coverage. They've been bullied up front, outlasted, then run through some more. They've also lost to one of the best teams in the league, in the New England Patriots, while missing Ben Roethlisberger.

Neither team in the Steelers-Ravens game on Sunday looked good. But with both lines shored up and its star quarterback playing again, Pittsburgh was the only one that couldn't do anything to the other.

A sputtering offense and overflowing penalties produced one of the Steelers' (4-4) worst performances and most damaging results of the season in a 21-14 loss to the Baltimore Ravens (4-4) at M&T Bank Stadium Sunday. All of which left Pittsburgh with its worst losing streak in three years, without the solo lead it had on the AFC North Sunday morning, but also, looking for answers it couldn't possibly find in the aftermath of a defeat to its archrival.

"I'm just flustered right now. I'm going to be honest with you. This is just -- I don't know," left guard Ramon Foster said. "We just have to be better."

Portions of the team were. James Harrison noted improvement in the run defense that gave up 362 yards in its previous two games and held the Ravens to 50. Harrison got the teams first sacks since Week 5.

Though Artie Burns, then Mike Mitchell were beaten for a 94-yard Mike Wallace touchdown, Ben Roethlisberger said the defense did enough for the Steelers to beat the Ravens.

The quarterback returning from Oct. 17 meniscus surgery blamed himself. Until the fourth quarter, he consistently under- or overthrew receivers by yards at a time.

When he began to hit them, only Eli Rogers and Antonio Brown could catch his passes. Yet the game had already seemed long out of reach. The Steelers were scoreless at halftime for the first time all season.

And they came out of the break by jumping offside on the kickoff for one of their 13 penalties, coughing up five of the 99 related yards.

"When you're not doing things well, it makes the judgment of those types of calls more significant," head coach Mike Tomlin said. "When you're doing the things that you're supposed to do, you find ways to let those type of calls roll off your back.

"So, I'm not seeking comfort."

Pittsburgh players believe Tomlin when he says these things.

In an August training camp practice at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, Ryan Shazier and Le'Veon Bell briefly argued aloud with each other over which of them was in fact "seeking comfort" in a one-on-one drill with linebackers and running backs. They were playing off their coach's catchphrase but not joking at all.

Three months later, though, they're both part of a team that's finding ways to lose.

"I can't put my finger on it to be honest," right guard David DeCastro said. "It's just kind of frustrating. I don't think there's anything specific. We got to make plays.

"We just took turns not getting the job done at inopportune times, couldn't get in rhythm on offense."

Pittsburgh simply doesn't often lose this much in a row under Tomlin. They've done it twice before in his 10 years -- dropping four to start the 2013 season and five in the heart of the 2009 campaign.

Neither team made the playoffs. This year's, Ramon Foster said, just beat itself to 4-4.

Said Roethlisberger: "We feel better than that, but our records tells us what we are."